Grand opening Mission Valley Farmers Market

Mission Valley Farmers Market at Civita Park will start Oct. 5 with a festive grand opening from 3 to 7 p.m. and continue every Friday.

The Mission Valley Farmers Market will be operated by the San Diego Farm Bureau, which is lining up a diverse list of popular local vendors. The grand opening will also include entertainment, a bounce house for the kids and all of the amenities of Civita Park.

Check for updates on the Farm Bureau website at bit.ly/2QFmW7e, or The Civita website at CivitaLife.com

Redlands, WeWork partner to expand business school

The University of Redlands has announced a collaboration with WeWork, a company that designs and builds shared office space. The university’s School of Business plans to host offices in three of WeWork’s 21 Southern California locations. These will include their downtown Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, and La Jolla office spaces.

To highlight their collaboration, the La Jolla location will welcome former Apple senior vice president, Jay Elliot, who will be discussing his bestselling book, “Disruptive Innovation: The Steve Jobs Way.”

“We are excited to welcome a guest of Jay’s caliber to our WeWork location in La Jolla,” said Thomas Horan, dean of the School of Business at the University of Redlands in a press release. “This event is an opportunity to hear from one of today’s great business minds and introduce the community to the unique shared working model between U of R and WeWork San Diego.”

The school says it hopes this new investment will work to advance business innovation and expand educational opportunities for alumni and WeWork members throughout Southern California. For more information regarding the La Jolla event, or the University of Redlands, WeWork collaboration, please visit bit.ly/URWeWork

American Rose Society to hold convention in San Diego

The American Rose Society will host its “Fiesta of Roses” convention Oct. 26–29 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Mission Valley’s Hotel Circle area. The event will include the induction of the society’s new national president, Robert B. Martin, Jr. of Escondido. Martin is the first San Diego resident to be elected to the role in the society’s 126-year history.

The convention will include lectures on all aspects of rose cultivation and preservation, a comprehensive seminar on photography, tours of significant local rose gardens, an enormous national rose show, an auction of more than 200 rare and unusual roses, and talks given by renowned rosarians. A reception will also be held at the Escondido home of incoming ARS President Bob Martin and his wife, Dona.

“Just being in the room surrounded by thousands of exquisite blooms and arrangements of every color and variety is an unforgettable treat,” said Ruth Tiffany, chair of the conference in a press release.

Registration for the event is $85, with banquets, receptions, tours, and the photo seminar available for additional fees. Additionally, admission to the national rose show and vendor area is $5 for the public. The 18th annual California Coastal Rose Society’s rare and unusual rose plant auction is free and open to the public. Event information and registration are available at fiestaofroses.org

San Diego Center for Children awarded

The National Foundation for Autism Research has donated $5,000 to Linda Vista-based San Diego Center for Children to fund the launch of its ASD Thrive Program for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families at the Center’s Family Wellness Center.

ASD Thrive aims to help meet the mental and behavioral health needs of San Diego County adolescents with ASD, especially those from low-income households, and to strengthen their families through education, support, and skills training. This emphasis distinguishes ASD Thrive from other programs, which primarily focus on behavioral therapy for the child.

The center’s program model will support families, providing them each with 12 sessions of family therapy interspersed with 48 hours of skills training. Adolescents will receive 48 hours of applied behavior analysis focusing on three adaptive skills (social, self-advocacy or communication, and one coping skill) per participant.

Anticipated outcomes include improvements in: adaptive skills among children and adolescents; parenting skills among parents and caregivers; improved mental health and behaviors; and reduced family stress.

The San Diego Center for Children, founded in 1887, is the oldest children’s nonprofit in San Diego. The Center provides therapeutic care, specialized education, and life skills to more than 1,000 children and their families in eight locations and hundreds of homes across San Diego county. For more information about the center, including its program services and events, please visit centerforchildren.org

SANDAG has new executive director

After a nationwide search, the San Diego Association of Governments (SDAG) board of directors announced that it has hired Hasan Ikhrata, the current executive director of the SCAG, as the new leader of the regional agency.

“We’re bringing in a heavy hitter because we have some heavy lifting to do here at SANDAG,” board chair and Del Mar Councilmember Terry Sinnott said in a press statement.

The SANDAG board voted on Sept. 19 to approve the terms of Ikhrata’s contract. After approval, the board agreed to work on specific performance measures for Ikhrata before he starts on Dec. 3.

“Hasan brings incredible expertise and a new perspective that SANDAG greatly needs,” said San Diego Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer, a SANDAG board member and a member of the board subcommittee that led the recruitment effort. “As we tackle our regional goals of developing a modern transportation system, environmental stewardship and a thriving economy, we are fortunate to have someone of Hasan’s caliber at the helm.”

Ikhrata, holds a master’s in civil and industrial engineering from UCLA, is a Ph.D. candidate in urban planning and transportation from the University of Southern California, and has been the executive director of SCAG for 10 years. The municipal planning organization is the largest in the nation, covering six counties (Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial, and Ventura), 191 cities, and 19 million people.

“This is a new and interesting challenge that will provide a great opportunity,” Ikhrata said. “My goal coming in will be to listen and learn. I will need a deep knowledge of all the communities and stakeholders of the San Diego region if I am to do my job — which will be to help all of us build a shared vision for the future and then make that vision a reality.”

As executive director, Ikhrata will be responsible for leading a SANDAG staff of approximately 375 people and overseeing a $1.3 billion annual budget. The executive director reports directly to the board of directors, which is composed of 21 elected officials from the region’s 18 cities and the County of San Diego (two each from the County Board of Supervisors and the city of San Diego).

Under the agreement approved by the board, Ikhrata will enter into a three-year contract. His annual salary will be $414,149, matching his current salary at SCAG.

Former SANDAG Executive Director Gary Gallegos, who led the agency starting in 2001, retired in August 2017.

Visit sandag.org/NextExec to learn more about the recruitment process.